KNOXVILLE — A senior judge today denied new trials for two brothers convicted in the brutal 2007 slayings of a Knox County couple but granted a new trial for a third defendant.

Senior Judge Walter Kurtz denied a new trial for alleged ringleader Lemaricus Davidson, who was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murders of Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend Christopher Newsom, 23.

He received the death penalty.

His brother, Letalvis Cobbins, who is serving a life without parole sentence, also was denied a new trial.